There is a real fear of Muslims in Britain that is far different than in America, and the headlines here sometimes make it look as if capitulation to Islam is inevitable.

The British government's announcement about tackling religious extremism by giving young Muslims "citizenship lessons" among other things is an interesting one. It's easy to sneer at initiatives in the face of the omnipresent threat of Islamic extremism worldwide, but Britain is not the only country pursuing such an approach. So too is Morocco, where I live some of the year. On the edge of Europe, Morocco stands proudly in the Arab Muslim world. Islam is the state religion but King Mohammed VI has placed Morocco firmly in alliance with the west.

His approach has provoked reaction. On May 16 2003, suicide bombers in Casablanca killed 45 people heralding a resurgence of Islamic fundamentalism and signalling a wake-up call for the king. Terrorism touched Moroccan citizens and also put at risk his strategy for foreign investment and tourism.

The parliamentary elections in Morocco last September had a record low turnout of only 37% especially among the young. The implications are not lost on Mohammed VI. Neighbouring Algeria casts its dark violent shadow over this small country. The king knows he must give Moroccans – especially young unemployed men – a reason to invest in his country's political and economic future. Otherwise, Islamist extremists will find new recruits just as they did in Algeria. Some will find their way to Europe and the west, just as others will stay in Morocco itself. That's why Mohammed VI needs to bring jobs and foreign investment if he is to curtail the threat.

But he is not content to rely on economic growth alone. The king understands that it is in civil society that the battle to contain Islamic extremists will be won. Education is therefore also essential. As Islam is the state religion, the kind of controversies that muddy the waters in Britain are less apparent. Not that his initiative is without controversy. For the king has gone beyond traditionalists and is feminising the face of Islam and embracing Islamic feminism. Women, he believes, can be the purveyors of a moderate humanitarian Islamic message.

At the heart of Mohammed VI's initiative is the recruitment and education of mourchidat ("female guides"). The mourchidat first made news in April 2006 when the Moroccan government announced that the first 50 had graduated. The second intake – another 50 – are currently being prepared for their role in the capital, Rabat. They will work in local communities helping women with religious questions and giving support in schools and prisons. By working face-to-face in the community, women (still the primary care givers and nurturers in Moroccan society in their role as mothers, sisters, aunts, friends and community guardians), will present a moderate face of Islam and curtail fundamentalist violent excesses.

September 11 2001 showed that in an increasingly global interconnected world, terrorism, like trade, knows no boundaries. Mohammed VI's initiatives are leading the way in understanding another implication – namely that cross-cultural understanding is vital, and that women can lead the way in moderating the messages of Islam.

The British government and leaders of the Muslim community should adopt his approach. In Britain, the paucity of women speaking on behalf of and for the Muslim community is striking, yet education starts inside homes and families, and continues in the informal spaces of civil society like voluntary groups, schools, and mosques.

To tackle the terrorist threat, and stop the subversion of Islam in its name, the face of Islam must be feminised in the public, and private sphere in Britain as well. And initiatives which promote inter-faith communication and cross cultural understanding must be supported. Without this, as Asim Siddique points out, in a culture where religion and the state are separate, Muslims and others will distrust initiatives which target one sector of the community without reaching out to others.

ITALIAN BREAKS UNDERWATER CYCLING RECORD

--A US-based Muslim group has stirred controversy in New York with its plan to launch in September a campaign promoting Islam in advertisements on the New York City subway.

The campaign coincides with the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, as well as the seventh anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.

"You deserve to know," the ads posted in subway cars will read, offering the tagline and contact information for the Islamic Circle of North America as a response to "questions" about the Prophet Mohammed [PBUH] and Islam.

The group is paying the Metropolitan Transit Authority 48,000 dollars to run the ads.

The Islamic Circle of North America describes itself as "a leader in pioneering up to date strategies to better convey the true understanding of Islam to others and clarify many of the misconceptions of Islam," its website says.

"This project is executed with cooperation of several major Islamic organizations and communities," it says.

Republican lawmaker Peter King has urged the MTA to cancel the campaign.

"I strongly believe the MTA should pull the ads," King said.

"They are especially shameful because the ads will be running during the seventh anniversary of September 11, and because the subways are considered a primary target of terrorists."

Source: AFP

Officials at the California State Capitol are under fire for stopping a student tour group from singing the national anthem in the capitol rotunda.

Launch into an a cappella version of the Star Spangled Banner in the California State Capitol and a group could find themselves facing Capitol Security and officers of the California Highway Patrol. And that is what happened, says Brad Dacus, president of the Pacific Justice Institute, when a group of students touring the capitol, as part of the "City on a Hill" education program, spontaneously began to sing the national anthem.
 
"Upon hearing the students, a security guard there silenced them and said that they could not sing the national anthem unless they had a special permit to do so," explains Dacus. "This was an egregious abuse of discretion and a violation of the First Amendment rights of these students to be able to express patriotism and their love for their country."

www.interfax-religion.com

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